December 20, 2019 (Friday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- Fighting resumes in rebel-held northwestern Syria, as government forces capture four villages by making their first large-scale push against rebel groups since the ceasefire that ended the 2019 northwestern Syria offensive earlier this year. (ABC News)
- Citizenship Amendment Act protests
- Further clashes between protesters and police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh leaves six people dead. (Al Jazeera)
Business and economy
- Japan announces it will raise military spending (1.1%) for an eighth consecutive year to a record high as it invests in ballistic missile and air defence to counter a perceived threat from North Korea and China. (Reuters)
International relations
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda announces she will launch a full investigation into allegations of war crimes in the Palestinian territories. (Al Jazeera)
- Iran–Japan relations
- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meets with Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in Tokyo to discuss renewing the Iranian nuclear deal. Rouhani is the first Iranian president to visit Japan in over 19 years. (Al Jazeera)
- The Two Popes film is released on Netflix just before the holiday season. It has a limited theatrical release during November in the United States and United Kingdom. Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis gives a dramatic interpretation of a series of conversations that took place between the liberal cardinal and the conservative incumbent Pope Benedict (played by Anthony Hopkins). (Screen Daily)
Law and crime
- Climate justice, Climate change mitigation
- In Urgenda Foundation v. State of the Netherlands, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upholds a 2015 ruling that "protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change" is a human right, ordering the Dutch government to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% by the end of 2020 compared to 1990 levels. (climatecasechart.com) (AP)
Politics and elections
- Brexit
- The House of Commons of the United Kingdom votes 358–234 to pass the government's Brexit withdrawal agreement for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union on 31 January 2020. The bill will now head to the House of Lords for final approval. The bill also rules out extending trade talks with the EU beyond 31 December 2020, known as the "transition period". (BBC News)
Science and technology
- Boeing Orbital Flight Test
- An Atlas V N22 rocket successfully launches the first space-faring Boeing Starliner spacecraft during the Boe-OFT mission. However, an issue with the spacecraft's mission elapsed time clock immediately after launch causes the premature depletion of the spacecraft's attitude control fuel, precluding the spacecraft's planned rendezvous with the International Space Station. An early reentry and landing of the spacecraft at the White Sands Missile Range is planned for 22 December. (NPR)
- Twitter suspensions
- Twitter bans almost 6,000 accounts, alleging that they were "amplifying messages favourable to Saudi authorities" in a Saudi state-backed coordination. (BBC News)